Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	bless_a	father_n	sinner_n	3,690	5	9.1555	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78206	The only refuge of a troubled soul in time of trouble & affliction, or, The sweet and soul-ravishing mystery of the apple-tree; explained and laid open, in two discourses fron Cant. 2. 3, for the comfort and encouragement of the true believer, in the midst of the worst and sorest afflictions which can (possibly) befal him in this world, and the awakening the most secure sinner, who is yet a stranger to the said mystery. ; Publish'd at the earnest and importunate request of several godly persons, who heard the same preached By J. Barry, an unworthy Minist. of the Gospel.	Barry, James.	1700 (1700)	Wing B970; ESTC R223490	61,710	175

Yea so far are Afflictions and Tribulations from being a Token of God's being a Mans Enemy that indeed to be exempt and free from them is an Argument that the Person is none of Gods But if ye be without chastening then are ye Bastards and not Sons Heb. 12.8 * God 's Afflictive Dispensations are to his own Children the purging Pills whereby God the Great and only Wise Physitian will purge out of the Heart and Affections of his Children those Remains of Sin yet abiding in them And as in Nature those Pills or that Potion which are Bitterest and which makes the Patient sickest are the best for curing though they are hardly gotten down So in Christianity those Corrections and Chastenings from God's own Hand which are the sorest and sharpest to corrupt Nature they are Attended with the greatest Efficacy to kill Indwelling Corruption in the Believer Before I was Afflicted said Holy David I went astray but now have I kept thy Word Psal 119.67 And in another place I know O Lord that thy Judgments are right and that thou in Faithfulness hast Afflicted me Psal 119.75 When the darkest and most dismal Cloud of Affliction and Trouble seems to overcast the true Believer and not only to overcast him but to compass him about so as there appears no likelihood of his Escape yet even then there is a Bright side in that Cloud which shines on the Believers Inside to comfort and encourage him in Trusting in and Relying on God in the way of Believing and Dependance And not only so but we Glory in Tribulation also knowing that Tribulation worketh Patience and Patience Experience and Experience Hope and Hope maketh not ashamed because the Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us Rom. 5.3 Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Mercies and the God of all Comfort Who comforteth us in all our Tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any Trouble by the Comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God 2 Cor. 1.3 4. Nevertheless God that comforteth those that are cast down c. 2 Cor. 7.6 Seventhly and lastly The Lord Jesus Christ the Head and King of all true Believers being Pilot to sit at the Helm of all Affairs wherein the Glory of his Father and the Salvation of his Elect are concern'd he will so Steer the Course of all second Causes in this World as not one of his Believing Members shall ever come short of a Safe and Happy Arrival at Glory but shall most infallibly be securely conducted through all Storms and Hurricanes which can possibly arise to overwhelm and sink the true Believer Let what Times soever God pleases come let what Calamities soever fall out in the Land Plague Famine Civil War Forreign Invasion Penal Laws Bishops Court Devil World indwelling Sin Let all come upon thee at once and display the Banner of their Force Policy and Malice against thee to ruine and destroy thee yet thou who art a real Believer art safe being secur'd under the sh●dow of the Appletree and not only safe from any Harm which can come to thee by such Storms or Enemies But thou shalt be infallibly assur'd of safe Landing in Heaven and that by Virtue of that Universal Conquest and Victory Atchiev'd by thy Head and King over all his and thy Enemies And his having gone through all those kind of Storms which thou fearest thou shalt meet with and that as thy Representative and hath shot the Gulph of Death and is now Actually Possest of thy Crown and Mansion in the highest Heavens whereto the Efficacious Virtue and Power of thy Redeemers Ascension will in a very short space of time bring thee to behold and enjoy the great and unspeakable things which he hath purchas'd for thee and for all that truly Love and long for his Appearing God is our Refu●e and Strength a very present Help in Trouble therefore will not we fear though the Earth be removed and though the Mountains be carried into the midst of the Sea Though the Waters thereof rear and be troubled though the Mountains shake with the swelling thereof Psal 46.1 2 3. Whither the forerunner is for us entred even Jesus made an high Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedech Heb. 6.20 What hath been observ'd from the latter part of the Text concerning the Fruits of the Appletree which are so sweet to the Taste of a true Believer many things might have been spoken by way of Application both to the Comfort and Joy of all true hearted Believers and also to the Terror and Amazement of all Papists Quakers Arminians c. who are destitute of the Fruit of this Appletree When spiritual Famine from God comes on these graceless because Christless Souls when they come to be Hunger-bitten and their starv'd Souls languish away in them for want of the Fruit they now ridicule and scorn Then will that dreadful and killing Word take hold of and be Actually fulfilled in them Esa 65.13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God behold my Servants shall eat but ye shall be hungry behold my Servants shall drink but ye shall be thirsty behold my Servants shall rejoyce but ye shall be ashamed Behold my Servants shall sing for Joy of heart but ye shall cry for Sorrow of heart and shall howl for vexation of Spirit This is and will be the Doom of all those who sit not under the Protecting Shadow of this Appletree The Fruit of this Tree is sweet to none but to those to whom its Shadow is Delightful The Shadow and the Fruit belongs to none but to God's Elect even Christs Redeemed ones Well therefore may the Believer cry out and say with the Prophet Although the Figtree shall not Blossom neither shall Fruit be in the Vine the Labour of the Olive shall fail and the Field shall yield no Meat The Flock shall be cut off from the Fold and there shall be no Herd in the Stalls Yet will I rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation Hab 3.17.18 The Mediatorial Righteousness of God Man is upon me and his protecting Care and Providence is over me for my Covering to shelter me from the Laws Curse From the Agonies of a fearful Conscience from the dreadful Temptations of Satan and from the deserved Wrath of God Here 's my hiding place in time of Storm and Tempest of whom should I be afraid Psal 27.5 Whenever a Storm arises whether rais'd by Satan or the World or by my own corrupt Nature or by Gods deserting or hiding his Face for a time I presently by Faith and Prayer run to the Appletree and take up my place under its Shadow crying out with Holy David Keep me as the Apple of the Eye hide me under the Shadow of thy Wings from the wicked that oppress me from my deadly Enemies who compass me about Psal 17.8 9.

gives that honourable Title of Mediator to any but the Son of God Secondly None was ever found by the Wisdom of God who was capable of such an high Office and that for two Reasons First Because the Mediator who must come in between God and sinners must be God as well as Man Now it is most certain that neither the Virgin Mary nor any other of the Saints of whom Papists make use as Mediators are God Secondly Because none of the Creatures to be Redeem'd were able to encounter with the Death and Miseries through which the Mediator was to go in making up the Breach between God and the Elect. Neither Virgin Mary nor any other Saint shed their Blood on the Account of Ransoming sinners I have trodden the wine press alone and of the people there was none with me Esa 63.3 And I looked and there was none to help and I wondred that there was none to uphold therefore mine own Arm brought Salvation unto me and my fury it upheld me ver 5. Is Christ divided was Paul Crucified for you c. 1 Cor. 1.13 This Work of bearing sin as a Surety for sinners was for unconceiveably great that I am very bold in affirming that had the Virgin Mary that Capital Idol of the Romish Synagogue with all the other Saints whom the Papists joyn with her as Coadjutors or fellow Helpers to make her Mediation and Intercession in Heaven the more successful joyn'd with her in lying under the weight of the sins of God's Elect It would have sunk her and them to into the nethermost Hell yea and all the Angels of Heaven had they been under that Load It never yet belonged to any to be a Mediator of Intercession but to him that was a Mediator of Redemption These two constitutive Parts of a compleat Mediator must never be parted they are both in Christ and in none other in Heaven or Earth Esa 53.12 with the Scriptures already Quoted To which I add a third Reason viz. Because neither Virgin Mary nor any other Saints or Angels were ever nominated or appointed to that High and most Sacred Office by God the Father This is Christ's Right excluding all others and that by the Priviledge of his Birth I will declare the Decree the Lord hath said unto me thou art my Son this day have I Begotten thee Ask of me and I will give thee c. Psal 2.7 8. to this great Office he was Anointed and set apart by the declared Will and sacred Oath of him who cannot lie or change The Lord hath sworn and will not repent thou art a Priest forever after the Order of Melchizedech Psal 110.4 Neither of these things can be said of the Virgin Mary or any meer Creature without horrid Lying and Blasphemy against the Glorious and ever Blessed Trinity Branch the second Learn hence how near akin to Popery such be who notwithstanding they declare against Popery lay the stress of their Hope of obtaining any Mercy on their own worse than Threadbare Performances Such Persons sacrifice to their own drag Hab. 1.16 Their own deep Humiliations their Prayers their Fastings their Almsdeeeds something of their own Qualifications must claim the Honor of procuring the favor and kindness God shews them or at least be brought in collaterally with Christ's Merits as the procuring Cause of the Mercy they receive How do these kind of Professors extol and and advance the Honour and Dignity of the Lord Jesus Christ These instead of running to shelter themselves under the shadow of this Appletree viz. The Righteousness and Satisfaction of Christ They run to the false covering of their own Qualifications ascribing their success unto them not to Christ How little differing from downright Papists are these Esa 30.1 Oh! how hard a thing is self-denial for a Man to do duty and not to trust to it For a Christian to be all in Christ and nothing in himself in the point of Merit and Trust to obtain the good he wants These are as great strangers to the Grace of the Gospel and will in the end be found as far from the Kingdom of Heaven as those Papists from whom they think they separate being no better than those foolish Virgins in Mat. 25. who for want of the Oyl of Grace in their Hearts were shut out of Heaven He that is a Christian in Truth as he devolves the whole concerns of his Life and Salvation on the Lord Jesus Christ to be secured by him alone and in his own way so he ascribes the Praise of every Blessing he receives for Soul and Body to Christ the Son of God not excluding God the Father and the Holy Ghost such a Soul knows it to be high Sacriledge to ascribe any part of the Praise of his Salvation to any but God Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy Name give Glory for thy Mercy and for thy Truths sake Psal 115.1 For my Names sake will I defer mine Anger and for my Praise will I refrain for thee that I cut thee not off Esa 48.9 Not for your sakes doo I this saith the Lord God be it known unt●● you be ashamed and confounded for your own ways O house of Israel Ezek. 36.32 To which I will only add that of our Saviour So likewise ye when ye have done all these things which are commanded you say we are unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to do Luke 17.10 In the Scriptures now Quoted it is most plain and conspicuous to any who are not either judicially or wilfully blind that all occasion is taken away from saved sinners of ever boasting of any worth or goodness of their own in the sight of a Holy God Ephes 2.9 Branch 3d. See and learn hence what little Cause or Reason any true Believers have to be dismay'd or discouraged at any Difficulties which lies in their way of Duty to God He who sits by Faith and humble Dependence under the shadow of this Almighty Redeemer and All-sufficient Saviour needs not fear tho' all the World were up in Arms against him For most certain it is the Word of God and rooted Experience assures me of it that Christ will either blast and confound all the crafty Pollicy and Strength of the Believers Enemies that they shall not be able to touch him so as to spoil him or else he will endue the Believer with an Heroick Spirit of Fortitude and heavenly Courage whereby he shall be enabled to suffer patiently and constantly for the Cause of God which is unspeakably better and every way more eligible to that Believer who would give an Evidence of his Faith in and his Love to the Person and Cause of his Beloved Jesus I even I am he that comforteth you who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die and the Son of man that shall be made as the grass Esa 51.12 Fear not for I have Redeemed thee I have called thee

justified in the Spirit c. 1 Tim. 3.16 Let the Believer who either hears or reads this concerning Christ's being Raised from the Dead but seriously weigh and consider of how great Concern this Act of Gods releasing Christ is to secure and strengthen the Foundation of the Believers Comfort and Assurance and he will find that the oftener he chews this Cud by serious Meditation accompany'd with fervent Prayer to the Throne of Grace the sweeter this Fruit will be to his Taste How comes it to pass that some poor Tempted Believers do often Hear and Read of God's having Raised Christ his Son from the Dead and yet they hear and read it as if they themselves were no way concern'd in it 't is as a dry Chip to them they taste no sweetness in it The Reason hereof is they do not consider neither can they believe that God in Raising his Son from the Dead hath Actually declar'd from Heaven that he is now Actually reconcil'd to and at an Everlasting Peace with all Believers with the poorest and weakest as well as with the strongest Believer And therefore the sure and only way for a poor weak tempted Believer to relish and taste the Sweetness of this Fruit is to Act Faith on the Resurrection of Christ appropriating the Virtue and Merit thereof unto himself thus and hath God indeed Raised up his Son Jesus Christ from the Dead And that as he was the Surety and Representative of all the Elect and was God's Design in raising him to give a publick Testimony to that Satisfaction which he himself received at the Hands of Christ in the behalf of God's Elect. Why then most ●ertain it is none but Lyars against God can deny it that no sin of God's Elect remains unsatisfied for which had they not been the Just ●nd Righteous God would never have ●uffered their Surety to have so much as peep'd out of his Prison the Grave in which he that ●ver Blessed one lay confin'd until God's time of discharging him accor●ing to Promise was come What Reason then canst thou shew O my drooping disponding Soul ●●hy thou shouldest fear an Arrest ●●om God for those sins for which Christ thy Surety was already Arrested and Committed and from which also he was Actually Acquitted and Legally Discharged by that great God against whom thy sins were committed whereof his Glorious and Powerful Resurrection from the Dead is a full and convincing Proof See and consider how the Holy Ghost Argues in the behalf God's Elect. Who shall lay any thing to the Charge of God's Elect It is God that Justifieih Who is he that Condemneth 〈◊〉 It is Christ that Died yea rather that is Risen again who is even a●● the Right Hand of God who also maketh Intercession for us Rom. 8.33.34 The Interrogation or Question here put implies a strong Neg●tion and the plain English or meaning of it is that in vain is it fo● any Enemy of Gods Elect to bri●● before God any Bill of Indictme●● or Accusation for sin against an● of God's Elect. The Argument where by this is inforced is twofold Firs● Gods own Act already past it God that Justifieth he against who●● sin hath been committed and w●●● alone hath the Right and Power to forgive it He hath on full Satisfaction given to his Justice by the Surety of his Elect Pardoned the sins of all the Elect who are now virtually pardoned and justified in that Justification past on Christ their publick Head and Representative Secondly The Death Resurrection from the Dead and Intercession of Christ the Elect's Surety First His Death this was the con●mmating Act whereby he complea●ed the Payment of our Debt for which he became bound to God for ●he Elect. Secondly His Resurrection from the ●ead which is God's Discharge from hat Obligation he lay under as the ●●rety of the Elect. Thirdly His Work of Intercession ●●t God's right Hand to which ●ace and Office he would never have ●●●n admitted had not the Passage ●ereto been clear'd up and prepar'd 〈◊〉 the Satisfaction given There can ●●en be no Reason shewn why or ●●erefore the weakest Believer should ●●r being damn'd or sent to Hell 〈◊〉 his sins seeing his Redeemer and Surety is raised from the Grave And is Actually ascended from the lower pars of Gods Earth to sit at his right Hand in the highest Heavens to enter on the Glorious Work of Interceding with God his Father for him a poor shatter'd tempted Soul Object But my sins are so many and great and my Faith so very very weak that I am often assailed with fearful Doubtings and Questionings whether I be one of those Elect in whose behalf Christ received that Full and Actual Discharge from God the Father To this I Answer in the Particulars following First Suppose thy sins do f● Quantity and Quality not only equalize out out-do the crying Abominations of any now in Glory Nay not only so but I will add the Abominations of any nay a the Reprobates in Hell except t● unpardonable sin which many in th● place have committed I say su●pose thy sins were as many and great as the sins of those now me●tion'd yet if thou seriously consider the unconcieveable Worth and the infinitely incomprehensible Value of the price paid to God's offended Justice for the sins of the Elect There will appear no real or solid Ground to fear the Greatness of thy sins in case the numberless Numbers of the Elects sins were thy own sins personally and that there were a Thousand Millions of Elect Sinners more than there be Stars in the Firmament Yet the Shoulders of that Almighty Saviour who became Surety for Gods Elect would bear them all and that without any danger of sinking under their Weight Remember that place Heb. 7.25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him c. To which let m● for thy Comfort and future Encouragement in believing add the Mercy of Jehovah which with the Merit of Christ's Satisfaction for sin is so every way Infinite and Incomprehensible that it swallows up and out-doeth all the Power that can be in sin to damn or ruin any Elect Sinner for whom Christ the Son of God Dyed and Rose again All the Breaches of God's Law are the Acts or Omissions of Finite Creatures But the Mercy of God in pardoning Sinners and the Merit of Christ his Obedience and Sacrifice to deserve and obtain their Pardon they are the Mercy and the Merits of an Infinite God And as soon might a little Wren or Sparrow Dive into the deepest part of the Sea and ascend up again to give an Account of its Depth as any created Being can be capable of sounding or Fathoming the investigable and bottomless Depth of God the Fathers pardoning Mercy and of Christs the Sons Merit to purchase the Elects Pardon Secondly And what though thy Faith be so weak so very very weak as thou complainest it is this need